New Cinema 2013-14

A new initiative in its 84th season by the Edinburgh Film Guild you know and love, EFG New Cinema is new films, new filmmakers and new discoveries for new audiences.

These are not only films which have yet to be seen in Scotland, but also films that are genuinely new: low-budget films that don’t look low-budget; independent films that don’t merely feel Independent but are independent in every way; experimental films whose experiments are vital and compelling; films that are controversial, but not from everyday, dinner-table controversies; marginalised cinema – films by women, queer cinema, dangerous cinema; films that are passionate without polemics, that are populist without being patronising – cinema that doesn’t condescend and doesn’t apologise; films that are beautiful and poetic and don’t put you to sleep; cinema that is not obvious, safe or palatable – fiction that is honest, documentaries that lie to you; films for those who want to be challenged, intrigued, surprised, fascinated, enervated and exasperated; films that will stun your senses, make you get angry, lose sleep and go to pieces.

We want to show good films by filmmakers who have the potential to become great: filmmakers who trust their instincts and hold faith that film has a future. We will introduce you to the filmmakers whom others will be rediscovering in thirty years’ time, bringing them to Edinburgh for you to thank personally, ask questions of and argue with.

We will show you world cinema that Scotland has never seen before, but also Scottish cinema the world has never seen before. We want to show films for Scottish filmmakers to be inspired by, to react against, to confirm their suspicions and challenge their assumptions – and we want to show what results of it.

Retrospective work becomes new once no one any longer recognises it: when you’ve never heard of or thought you’d never have a chance at films you can’t find on DVD, torrents or your mate’s hard drive. We want to exhume the films that renowned filmmakers recall with reverence and the films which once astonished filmgoers before being forgotten.

We want to show films to the unrepentant cinephiles addicted to discovery and to those who are simply curious and aren’t afraid to take a punt, those who think that short films are worth their money and that three-hour films aren’t a waste of time. We believe that where a good audience exists, good films will come to be shown to it.

Plans for our first season’s seven events can be found here. Full details of how to book for upcoming items are forthcoming. However, should you plan on attending New Cinema screenings, please let us know as early as possible by registering your intent with us – this will help to secure venues of sufficient sizes for our audiences and potentially prevent popular performances from selling out.

For those wishing to register their intent to attend New Cinema screenings, or for other enquiries or to contribute to the cause, please write to EFGNewCinema@gmail.com. We will also be happy to send you scheduling details once they are finalised, as well as notifications of when specific screenings are available for booking.

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